Friday, April 27, 2007

Buy Curious: Grillin', Chillin' and Struttin' the Catwalk

Fri, Apr 27, 2007 at 4:54 PM

What clothing label makes Berkeley High guys drool? (Hint: It's Australian.) Where can you fly if you've only got $20 to throw down? What are local fledgling fashion designers whipping up these days? This week, the definitive guide to downtown Berkeley style, two key events that should be on every trendsetter's weekend agenda, and much more...

$10 Flight Too Good to Be True?
Not if you've been craving a visit to Ohio! Skybus, a new lowfare carrier slated to take to the sky in mid-June, is offering a handful of $10 fares on flights from Oakland to Columbus (the only city the airline flies to from Oakland.) After those seats are gone, one-way prices range from $50 to a max of $125. The catch? Services deemed "extra" will cost you: $5 for each checked bag, $10 to board early, and fees for drinks, food, blankets and pillows. When Lauren looked into buying a roundtrip ticket Tuesday to visit her 96-year-old grandmother in June, (who doesn't have family in Ohio?), th price tag came to $80. By this morning, the fare had jumped to $220. The reason she didn't snap up the $80 bargain? Fares are non-refundable, and changing a flight will set you back $40 bucks each way. Unless, that is, you cancel your reservation before the airline receives its federal certification to fly. Which should, uh, happen soon, it claims. Gulp! Still, it's tempting to book a flight for August, when American Idol runner-up Bo Bice will do his thing at the Ohio State Fair, where Lauren spent many summer days of yore...
FASHIONALYSISCal vs. Stanford: The Fashion Game
When it comes to style, Stanford doesn't hold a candle to the fashion-forward denizens of UC Berkeley. At least, that's the notion a Stanford Daily writer Nicole Demby put forth this week in reflecting on a recent concert at Cal where she "had to blink twice to make sure I wasn't in an American Apparel ad." (Um, was everyone half-naked and clearly quite limber?)

It's reassuring, however, that Demby "isn't advocating that we all become trend whores and go sell our souls to Urban Outfitters. My friend at Berkeley describes classmates who just sit around looking cool all day like it's their job. In contrast to these people, there is something almost refreshing about Stanford's indifference to hipster fashion."

Still, she continues, "Many people at Stanford refuse to step out of the pages of Seventeen Magazine because they think something a bit more daring would disrupt the order of their lives. As one brave Stanford fashion soul once related to me, some girl she had been chatting with at a party innocently expressed her admiration that my friend could "dress like that and still be successful." Ouch!

Of the urgent myriad questions that pop into our head after reading this, the biggest is this: Why the heck are Stanford students still reading Seventeen? Is it because they spent so much time studying and volunteering back in junior high that they're reliving their tweenhood now? It's time to move on, folks - might we suggest taking a half-step up to Jane with the aim of switching to a decent adult rag like Elle, or our favorite magalog, Lucky, by 2008?
MARK YOUR CALENDARIf you're the type to plan ahead (we're totally envious), make room in your datebook for this upcoming event...Meet Mr. Target Himself
We know you're not vain enough to give a damn about a few wrinkles, but if you're bored next Saturday, head to Sephora in SF to hear Isaac Mizrahi - yep, the guy behind most of the cool stuff at your favorite discount superstore - about the wonders of StriVectin-SD. Last fall Mizrahi became the spokesman for the pricey stretch mark turned wrinkle-reducing cream. (And no, we have absolutely no idea why the powers that be would choose a man to represent a product no man would touch with a ten-foot pole. Unless it's the fact that women seem to snap up anything with his name on it. Yeah, maybe that's it.)
When: Sat., May 5, 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Where: Sephora, 33 Powell Street, San Francisco
Every Friday, Buy Curious dishes on the hottest fashion trends, news, and sales in the East Bay and beyond. If you've got tips, suggestions, comments, or a burning style question you'd like us to answer in our column, Buy Clueless, send them our way! Write Kathleen and Lauren at BuyCurious[at]EastBayExpress[dot]com

Brian Hofer wrote in a letter that a police misconduct investigator was more interested in the immigration status of Oakland residents than false claims made by Anne Kirkpatrick. Plus, the council bars any cooperation between OPD and ICE.